I was watching one of the freecreditreport.com commercials and decided I should probably start to monitor my credit. Lucky for me I did, but I don't know really where to go from here. I found out that I have a mortgage taken out in Nov 07 in New Jersey and I bought a brand new Ford F-150 truck in Dec 07 in New York, the only problem is that I did not- but obviously someone did for me. Anyone here been the victim of ID theft and could offer me some idea as to where to go from here? I placed a fraud alert on my file with all three agencies, but really I'm kinda in shock and not thinking all that straight right now. Any help would be appriciated. Also, is there any way I can found out how my info was compromised in the first place..etc etc. Brandon
Stop paying your credit cards, in fact, run them all the way up, then stop paying them. Then tell the credit card companies and reporting agencies that they should have not allowed that garbage to happen. If you don't owe $20-30 grand on any one of them it's not worth it for them to sue you.... Your credit rating is screwed up already, why keep it? If you have income like a trader should you won't need credit at all, right?? Bad credit doesn't stop you from getting with a prop shop, a bankruptcy might but not bad credit afaik....
that's brutal, brandon. sorry to hear about it. however--with a mtg and a new truck--it should be really easy to nail the guy/girl. i would contact the FBI. good luck! surf
Uhm...thats all well and good if you dont use prime brokerage I suppose, but they tend to be pretty interested in the credit worthyness of the GP behind the managment company..and so if this continues it could potentially put me out of business. I'd really like that new F-150 truck though...damn it.
first you need to file a police report. than from credit bureaus get contact info of the creditors. 3. contact creditors.
Disappointing to see this crap advice from one of our longer term members. I'm going to choose to believe that this was sarcastic. Same thing happened to me only on a smaller scale - big screen TV and some other stereo gear was purchased from a big box electronics shop. I dealt with the collections agent. Basically I had to get through the first level of collections where they are just instructed to threaten you no matter what you say. Eventually I got up the ladder and eventually had to sign an oath saying that I didn't have anything to do with the purchases. My credit rating was fully repaired and it's off my Equifax now. A mortgage and a truck?? Obviously a bit more involved. My best advice would be to deal with the bank and or the collectors in an icy calm manner no matter what they say (remember that they're trained to take a certain approach with you, which is basically to accuse you of everything possible and see how you react) and document everything and insist they do the same. Ask them for documentation all the way. You will eventually clear it but it will probably take a year and 30++ hours of your time. How it happened? Too many possible ways to mention, but insider fraud is likely - the selling of identities by those in a position to gather your most personal details.. There must be a identity theft Message board on the net where people are gathered and talking about this. Dec 07?? What a coincidence that you just happened to check your report now. It's actually a good thing. The debt will still be in the hands of the principal and not sold off to a third party for a fraction of its worth. Shoudl be easier to deal with the principal than someone who bought the debt.
Brandon, you'll find a detailed action plan and other resources here: http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/con_steps.htm It's going to be a hassle and a pain, but you'll manage to get through this and come out ahead in the end. More knowledgeable, proactive, defense-driven and in full control regarding credit and identity. Good luck.
Sorry to here that Bradonf, Some system or laws needs to be put in place to keep this kind of misfortune from happening. I try to monitor my credit status and things of that nature as often as I can. -good day Maybe some help here http://tinyurl.com/yqv44y
Relatively new events...call the car dealer/bank and mortgage holder/broker immediately and tell them what happened. Take the offensive, and make sure all your banks/credit people are aware of all this. FWIW, Don
Actually I was half serious in my advice. This id theft problem is 100% solvable by our government, they never do it, the credit rating and credit companies will not cooperate and I say F%^k 'em... they are doing all they can to make life miserable for prosperous people...